Botanical Gardens and Coney Island

27th September

We had a big day riding the subway today, making the most of our 7 day pass. The Botanic Gardens, situated in the Bronx, are open free of charge on a Saturday between 9 and 10:00 am so we rose to the challenge of getting there in time! There is a 'tram' ride around the gardens with an audio guide which explains some of the history as well as the specifics of each area of the gardens. It was excellent and we assumed that it was free as no one asked us for a ticket. When we stopped at one of the official stops, the driver asked a man who was waiting if he had a ticket or not. We decided at that point that, when the ride was over, we would walk briskly away!

We changed trains at 161st St, Yankee Stadium, and were surprised when the train left the subway and came 'into the light'! The stadium dominated the skyline.

The NYC Botanical Gardens are the most beautiful gardens that we've ever seen.

This trail left the sealed paths and headed into

 the bush. We saw many squirrels and the cutest chipmunks you've ever seen!

Autumn is just beginning to be noticeable in the gardens.

The waterfall didn't show up well on my little camera.

Can you believe it? A concierge!

Fancy photography!

The conservatory.

After a very peaceful morning at the gardens we rode the rails again, back through the Bronx, right through Manhattan Island, over the bridge and into Brooklyn. It was a stunning day today, blue skies and warm temperatures with little wind so Coney Island was in our sights.

This view, at Brighton Beach, reminded us of so many American movies that I had to take a photo. We didn't see any spectacular car chases under the rail bridge though so it was a little disappointing!

Brighton Beach

Coney Island fun fair.

Looking back at Coney Island and Brighton Beach from the pier.

Coney Island is home to the original Nathan's Famous Frankfurts hotdog stand. This is where those horrible international hotdog eating competitions are held. There is a very large electronic sign on the side of the building counting down the seconds until the next competition...good grief! Peter bought the obligatory hotdog which was surprisingly small and much tastier than Aussie hotdogs. It was more like a bratwurst sausage.

Look above the cars in the middle of the photo and you can see the train waiting at Coney Island station. This is a subway station, by the way!

New York 2

26th September

A tour of Radio City Music Hall, built in 1932, was the first stop of the day. Rockefeller was the force behind the construction and the music hall is the 1st of the 19 (?) buildings which make up the Rockefeller complex. According to our guide, we were lucky to be taken, not only on the stage, but back stage during the tour. This only happens a few times per year...believe it or not! The supposed highlight of he tour was meeting a current member of the famous Rockettes and having the opportunity to have our photo taken with her.

The theatre was originally built to show movies in.

The acoustics are so good that we could hear a cleaner, who spoke in a normal voice whilst in front of the stage, from the very top tier of the theatre.

When standing on the stage, we weren't allowed to move outside of the circle marked in the floor! It was actually a turntable and the stage floor is so strong that they have had elephants and a full size bus on it without a problem.

Some of the Rockette's costumes.

Another must do on the list was to visit Times Square.

This amazing place can't really be photographed effectively. There is a seating grand stand set up so that the public can sit, in the middle of a road junction, and watch the electronic advertising that surrounds you. It's an amazing place, spoilt slightly at the moment by construction work.

View from the stands.

We stupidly thought that the characters hanging around the Disney store were for advertising purposes. Suckers! This photo cost $5 and they pressed us for more. We even saw some girls dressed only in body paint and briefs who were also trying to get money through photos. They were everywhere.

Hard Rock Cafe

After looking up the sunset times, we headed off on the subway downtown to Brooklyn Bridge. It was packed with walkers and cyclists, who had their own lane. The cyclists cared not at all that the pedestrians were plentiful and had a narrower part of the bridge than the small number of cyclists and arrogantly rang their bells and flew along at break neck speeds. It reminded me of Amsterdam.

The bridge took just over 12 years to make, back in the 19th century. It is the oldest bridge in NYC.

Me! If you zoomed in closely, you'd see the Statue of Liberty on the horizon, left of centre.

Downtown Manhatten.

Sunset.

New York 1

23rd & 24th September

We're staying on Lexington Avenue, between 101st and 102nd streets, in East Harlem. It's not exactly a pretty outlook but we're self contained and are close to the subway, so it's working well.

Being only 4 blocks to Central Park, we headed off on a self guided walking tour of the northern end of the park. I've never seen so many joggers in one place at one time and there were many groups of young men sweating it out together as part of their training for...something!

A view of some of the city from the other side of the Jaqueline Kennedy Lake.

Having booked tickets to see the Statue of Liberty and climb to the top of the crown, we headed to the subway. The subway is well organised and the downloadable map is self explanatory. It's easier than the French subway to use, but it's noisy and quite smelly and many stations are in need of renovating. Nevertheless, we made it to Bowling Green station which is named after the first ever park in New York City.

After going through airport style security we boarded the Statue of Liberty ferry for the trip to liberty Island. Tickets to the Crown have to be booked at least 3 months in advance.

From above, you can see that the tablet that Lady Liberty holds has the date of July 4th emblazoned in it.

To take this photo, which shows the torch and two spikes of the crown, you have to hold the camera out of the tiny window in the crown, face up. 

The spiral staircase that accesses the crown is very steep. Two staircases actually wind around the central pole, one for up and one for down.

Looking through the scaffolding under Lady Liberty's skirt!

From the pedestal, looking up.

A lovely Chinese man volunteered to take this shot from the pedestal viewing platform. He didn't do a bad job either!

Lady Liberty.

I never realised how small the island is that she stands on.

Battery Park at the southern tip of Manhatten Island.

The Somme

20th September

The decision to take part in a small group guided tour of the WW1 battlefields turned out to be a very good one. We were part of a group of 8 Australians in a Mercedes mini van under the expert guidance of an English speaking French guide who was very knowledgable. The day was fascinating and very powerful, particularly when we visited the Victoria school.

Built in 1923-1927, the school is a gift from the children of the state of Victoria, Australia, to the children of Villers-Bretonneux as proof of their love and good-will towards France. The town of Villers-Bretonneux was destroyed during the war. The Australians wanted to do something to help the French recover and so the school was rebuilt. Twelve hundred Australian gave their lives for the heroic recapture of the town on April 24th and 25th, 1918.

The war graves, Villers-Bretonneux.

The land surrounding the monument area is farming land and it was much the same back in 1916.

A visit to the Victoria school is an amazing 

experience. The children at this primary school are taught about Australia and its people, including the aboriginals. In every classroom flies an Australian flag and the sign above the playground shelter says it all. This motto is written in French and English in the school. What I didn't expect was an overwhelming emotional reaction when walking around the empty school. Luckily we visited on a Saturday.

A classroom area. It could have been a 

hallway or part of the library next door, which had a window display full of Australian literature and stuffed Australian toy animals. The school hall was lined with large posters of Victoria, including the Melbourne symphony orchestra, the Yarra river running through Melbourne, a stockman from the high country, the Great Ocean Road and moss covered gum trees from the Dandenong ranges. There were wood carvings of Australian animals all around the cornices of the hall. It was a jaw dropping, unexpected vision.

A German war graveyard. Many German 

soldiers were repatriated. The German graveyards look very different from the Commonwealth sites. The have black crosses, instead of white stone crosses, and no flowers and are placed on quiet back roads instead of the main roads where the Commonwealth cemeteries are. Trees are planted amongst the crosses because the German people traditionally were buried in forests, rather than the graveyards of the French or English.

This mural on the building depicts the bombing of the cathedral in Albert (please pronounce it the French way 'Albair'). The rebuilt cathedral is in the background.

A beautiful window inside the cathedral.

Albert cathedral.

This crater is huge! Named Le Grande Mine in French, this crater was left after the allies bombed the German tunnels from underground. There were 17 of these craters created during the assault on the German front line.

We are now at Pozieres, a very small French town that saw a lot of action and more casualties than at Gallipoli. Both of our grandfathers fought in Pozieres and both were injured and were removed to England for treatment. This picture shows the remains of a French cellar which was converted into a German command post. The Germans added concrete to reinforce the cellar (below).

The memorial at Pozieres.

The 'new' town hall in Pozieres. Red brick buildings in France generally indicate post war buildings and most are dated around 1920.

A war memorial in the town of Pozieres. Only 200 people live here; it is much smaller than I imagined.

Driving through the area you come across many Commonwealth war cemeteries. The stand out amongst the potato and corn fields because they are surrounded by neat brick walls and have manicured lawns around and within them. This memorial is the largest in the Somme. It is the British memorial, dedicated to the 20 something thousand unknown and missing soldiers. Their names are written around every square, white pylon.

This is the Newfoundland memorial. Newfoundland is now part of Canada, but during WW1 it was a separate country. 800 Newfoundland soldiers stornmed the German lines here and only 68 survived. The caribou is the National symbol of Newfoundland.

Because this site was so significant to Newfoundland, the land was purchased from the farmers and the trenches were left up disturbed. They are not as deep as they once were, due to erosion and a boardwalk has been created along one trench, but nothing else has been disturbed. Protruding from the ground are the curly metal stakes which once held up the barbed wire.

This dead tree has been placed at the site of the 'danger tree', a dead tree in the middle of the battlefield between the Allied and German fronts. Due to its exposure between the fronts, it was a very dangerous place to be. The whole site is really a cemetery, as the fallen were left where they fell for the whole 5 months of the conflict.

The cemetery in the background is the site of the German front line.

The twisted metal stakes which once held up barbed wire.

This is a pilgrimage that I'm very glad we made. Lest we forget.